Learn About Yoga Nidra

The practice of yoga relaxation  has been found to reduce tension and anxiety. The autonomic symptoms of high anxiety such as headache, giddiness, chest pain, palpitations, sweating, abdominal pain respond well. While most people treat yoga as a body workout, the truth is a yoga routine provides deep restoration to your body and mind. And to make your practice more effective, it’s ideal to end your yoga sequence with yoga nidra. In yoga nidra, you not only enjoy the complete physical, mental and emotional relaxation but also get to explore the tremendous powers hidden in the deeper layers of subconscious and unconscious mind.

In the deep relaxation state of yoga nidra, the mind is in a state between sleep and wakefulness and its receptivity is many times more than its receptivity in wakeful state. The secret is that the subconscious mind is at front in this state while the conscious mind takes the back seat. The subconscious mind is a very obedient disciple and immediately carries out the orders that you put to it. By practicing yoga nidra you can completely train your subconscious mind. Then the ordinary conscious mind and intellect will follow the suit. The subconscious and the unconscious mind are the most powerful forces in the human being. In yoga nidra you learn how to access these powerful forces to gain knowledge, cure diseases, increase creativity, and to realize your true self. Yoga is usually practiced after to yoga workout or meditation or sudarshan kriya taught at Art of Living classes.

Yoga Nidra vs. Meditation

Yoga nidra is not quite the same thing as meditation. In yoga nidra practice you are lying down and the exercises help you move into a semi-hypnotic state, somewhere between being awake and being asleep. During meditation you usually sit with your spine as vertical as possible and remain alert and aware.

You can think of yoga nidra as a way of preparing for meditation; in the yoga tradition it is understood as being a practice of sense withdrawal that prepares you for moving into a state of meditation. It turns your attention inwards and helps your mind and body reach the calm mental state required to meditate effectively.

Meditation does not come easily to busy people. Most people find sitting still and silent for any length of time a huge challenge. It's particularly hard if your mind is over active, or your body is tense.

Mastering the art of yoga nidra first will help you with this, and to eventually tackle the much greater challenge of relaxing the mind during a sitting meditation practice or while practicing sudarshan kriya technique.